This invention relates to a reservoir cap with a dropper, for bottles, in particular for extemporaneous solutions of pharmaceutical products.
It is known that some drugs are not stable in aqueous medium.
In this case the solution is prepared extemporaneously thus reducing the time of contact of the drug with the aqeuous medium to the 7- to 15-day period during which treatment lasts and is sufficiently limited to not noticeably endanger the stability of the drug.
Known containers for preparing extemporaneous solution are very complicated and costly, especially in the case of solutions for ophthalmic use, and only rarely ensures sterility of the solution. Indeed, they consist of (i) a bottle containing the drug in the form of sterile powder or granules (ii) a second bottle or a vial containing the sterile aqueous solution, and (iii) a third sterile container containing a dropper.
At the time of use the bottle containing the powder and the vial containing the solution are opened and the latter is poured into the bottle. This pouring is less simple that it might seem because the bottle mouths are rather small and the vial mouths are still smaller. In addition, in many cases the patient who is to perform the operation is elderly and has unsteady hands and/or his sight is rather poor. The easy loss of the aqueous solution causes the pharmaceutical solution thus obtained to be more concentrated than expected and this changes the dosage of the drug.
In addition the numerous manual operations required easily comprise the sterility of the solution and the dropper.
In the case of single-dose drinkable solutions and extemporaneous syrup there is known the use of reservoirs which contain a powder and are fitted on the mouth of the bottle containing the aqueous solution into which the powder is then dropped by breaking or opening the reservoir. The reservoir is then removed and discarded. In the case of single-dose solutions the content is promptly drunk and the container is discarded as well. In the case of syrup a cap is applied to the bottle mouth.
A reservoir cap not removed after preparation of the extemporaneous solution and also functioning as a dispenser of the solution and in particular as a dropper has never been made heretofore.